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Cannery Under Construction: The sky is falling … it’s pink … and fluffy!

When one thinks of fluffy pink things, cotton candy, plush kids toys and pink flamingos may come to mind, but construction certainly does not! Fluffy and pink mean the complete opposite to the construction crew. Instead, fluffy pink stuff = wall insulation = skin crawling fibers = white tyveck coveralls and face masks! You get the idea. Despite the latter being quite the fashion statement, when it comes to removing old insulation from the Cannery ceiling, what would you do? I’d take the coveralls and filtration masks any day (I have had to wear this type of mask before for a fibre arts course; they are no fun! The cool factor is that you sound like Darth Vader when speaking, but that’s as far as ‘cool’ goes, otherwise, they are hot, sweaty, and all ’round uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time). It’s better to protect oneself rather than work under the falling pink fluffy stuff that gets into your ears, down your shirt, around your neck or into your lungs. Just the thought makes my skin crawl!

These tyveck troupers have been working on creating a supportive roof structure for the massive vents above what is now referred to as the Boiler House Theatre. In order to do so, they had to place long beams perpendicular to the ceiling and the roof. Although difficult to see in the photo on the top left, the roof slopes at the base of the tall vents. The crew had to solidify and support the roof structure, which entailed opening up the ceiling, removing the insulation, removing more insulation, and more insulation (refer to the image on the bottom right), then place numerous long wooden beams as reinforcement for the roof. Once done, they had to work in reverse by adding insulation, patching up the ceiling, and then heat the room to dry it all up.

There is never a dull moment with the construction crew around, especially because they give pink fluffy things falling from the sky a whole new meaning!